The proposed Granville Schools earned income tax became the focus for an April 26 “Election Issues Forum” held at Bryn Du Mansion.

The forum was co-sponsored by the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce and Granville Sentinel, and was arranged to accommodate 60 people, but drew many more who stood or sat in the windows.

Proposing a 7:30 p.m. stop, the event actually continued until about 8:30 p.m. with some lingering afterward to speak with school officials.

The forum focused on three ballot issues before Granville voters, including a constitutional amendment to create a bipartisan, public process for drawing congressional districts; a ballot option to add one more day of wine and mixed beverage sales on Sunday at the Denison Golf Club, and the proposed 1.25% earned income tax to fund Granville Schools.

The latter was explained by Schools Superintendent Jeff Brown and District CFO/Treasurer Michael Sobul, the latest in a series of public presentations about the district’s efforts to shift from a property tax funding model to a more sustainable funding mechanism through use of an earned income tax.

The school’s portion of the forum dominated the evening, with a number of questions and remarks directed at school officials about the nature of the tax, its potential impact on some taxpayers, and continued calls from some residents for more development in Granville to help ease citizens’ tax burdens.

As previously reported, if approved by voters May 8, the earned income tax will be in place for five years and will provide GEVSD with what officials have described as “a sustainable” tax mechanism.

If granted earned income tax approval, the district has also pledged to eliminate the current Permanent Improvement levy (PI), and move inside millage from operating to PI to create a permanent PI funding source for the district’s aging stock of facilities.

If voters approve the issue, officials have also committed to about a 5 percent reduction in property tax in terms of what the school levies against property owners that would also result in 2020.

Officials again pointed out during the forum that senior citizens’ burdens would be further eased under an earned income tax, because it would not tax Social Security, pensions, interest, dividends or capital gains.

But some in attendance at the meeting said while not dismissing the idea of an earned income tax, they said the rate of 1.25 percent is an overreach.

Others asked again if the district had plans to use some of the money for artificial turf for the high school stadium. Officials and school board members strongly restated that is not their intention, and again pledged if a decision were eventually made to install turf, it would happen through a public-private donation model like the one that funded the recent Wildwood Playground build.

That said, officials also reiterated some funds could go to ailing bleachers for safety and liability reasons, just as much of the money that would be raised through the earned income tax would be directed as needed toward maintenance and repair of the district’s aging stock of buildings – structures whose average age is now about 35 years – in an effort to stave off the need for new schools’ construction.

Challenges related to class sizes – an issue that would be further impacted by expected position cuts of between eight and ten jobs if the May 8 levy fails – were also discussed. Mobility, or the movement of students between school districts during the school year is also a complicating factor, Sobul said.

He said that currently, there are 28 more students enrolled in Granville schools than there were at the beginning of the school year.

As the question and answer portion continued, there were expressions of frustration on the part of audience members with the state’s school funding systems and practices and their impact on Granville, considered by state standards an affluent district which should therefore provide the bulk of its own schools funding from within the community.

Some in the audience criticized others for what they described as “internet research” regarding the tax plan, district finances and enrollment.

And as it did in a previous forum offered by the school district, the issue of commercial development in Granville again arose, with one audience member remarking, “Your lifetime is too short to get things approved (commercially) in Granville.”

School Board President Russ Ginise said of development, “If that’s what you want to see, you need to demand it… A lot of them (elected officials) are doing what they think their constituents want.”

Ginise said it would “move the needle” to develop the vacant BP station site, and to move ahead with development possibilities on South Main Street and River Road where “some (development) plans have been on the books for a long time.”

Of the other issues before voters, David English, CFO/Vice President for Finance and Management at Denison, said the request to add Sunday liquor sales at the golf club comes at the request of patrons and members of the club.

“The course is doing well, and we’d like to do better,” he said of the desire to increase services to customers. He said on the dry Sundays, there is evidence some are bringing their own liquor to the club and by offering Sunday sales the club could do a better job of managing and monitoring customer alcohol use on Sundays.

Rita Kipp, Chair of the League of Women Voters in Licking County, spoke on Ohio Issue 1, aimed at curbing gerrymandering practices in the drawing of congressional districts.

Kipp noted gerrymandering has been practiced since the early 1800s, but technology has heightened its impact by generating districts offering no prospect of competition and that are shaped and arranged in ways that make it difficult for elected officials within those districts to interact meaningfully with constituents.

Kipp said there is no organized opposition to Issue 1 she is aware of, and that Democrats and Republicans alike have endorsed the issue: “When was the last time you heard of that happening,” she asked.